Addison crittendi-n rand



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON CRITTENILN RAND, on NEW YORK, n. r.

E'XPLOSIVE COMPOUND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,819, dated July12,1892. Application filed April 1, 1891. Serial No. 427.388. Nospecimens.) Patented incanada April 21, 1892, H; 88.779.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON CRITTENDEN; RAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in- Explosive Compounds,(for which Letters Patent have been granted to me in Canada,-No. 38,779,dated April 21, 1892,) of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to that class of ex-' plosive compounds which arecomposed of a solid ingredient, usually in a finely-powdered state, anda liquid ingredient, the said i ngredients being in and of themselvesnon-explosive and being combined to constitute the explosive compound bythe incorporation of the fluid'with the solid by the absorption by thepulverulent mass of the latter of the forand a mineral substance of thecharacter hereinafter set forth in theform of coarse granular particles,the said powdered chlorate of potash and said mineral grains beingmechanically mixed together in about the proportions hereinafter statedto constitute the solid ingre-. dient of the explosivecompound, and afluid hydrocarbons uch as nitro-benzoL-co'nstituting the liquidingredient of the explosive compound, the explosive compound beingformed bythev incorporation with the intermingled powdered chlorate oipotash and 1 minoralgrains of the fluid hydrocarbon, which is efiectedby causing the mass of said solid ingredients to absorb said fluidingredient.

1 In selecting a mineral substance to constitute the mineral grains inthe said mixture thereof with the chlorate of potash to form the solidingredient of the aforesaid compound the substance chosen should behard, dense, and to a high degree non-porous, and it may be a mineralwhich is of. itself inexplo'siveand 1 wholly inert in theexplosivecompound; or,

which is preferablefit may be a mineral which is to'some degree anoxidant-as, forexample, manganese peroxide. This material isobt-ainablefrom the hard ores of manganese, such aspyrolusito. The manganese shouldbe reduced by crushing or adegree of pulverization to the form'of'coarse grains or particles It will thus form granular particles,

which are exceedingly hard, dense, and practically non-porous'and whichare irregularly angular in contour, which conditionssr charaoteristicsaredesirable in the mineral grains employed with the powdered-chlorateof potash in constituting the solidingredient of the explosive compoundfor the attainment of the best results in carrying'ont this invention. f

In fabricating the explosive compound in accordance with thisinventiotlfthe employment in mixture of equal parts, by weight, ofpowdered chlorate-of potash andmanganese peroxidein coarse grains andthe incorpora tion therewith by the absorption by the mess I of thismixture of fifteen per cent.,-by weight, of nitro-benzol will produce anexplosive'compound which will be serviceable and effective in allusual-blasting operations where the use of a high explosive'isrequired.- "The propor-.

with the effect of diminishing or augmenting,

respectively, the'dynamic force of a serviceable high explosive. When amineralwhich is inexplo'sive and inert in the compoundis used in themixture with the chlorate of potash to form the solid iugredient,'an'effective explosive 'compoundwill be constituted 'by' employing aboutforty per cent, by weight, of: said mineral grains to about sixty percent.

of the powdered chlorate of potash and cans ing. to-be absorbed by themass of this mix"- ture about fifteen per cent, by weight, of 'a I fluidhydrocarbon, such asnitro benzol. The

, strength or dynamic force of this compound may be altered or graded byvariations some-- what from the said proportions ofthe said mineralgrains in the said mixture torming" the solid ingredient.

In an explosive of the classstated, in which the final compound isprepared for use by the incorporation with the solid ingredient-f 1 afluid ingredient-such as nitro-benzol-by the absorption of the latter bythe mass of the former, the presence of the coarse hardnonporous mineralgrains in the mixture with the powdered chlorate of potashconstitnting't-he solid ingredient, separates or divides the fine iparticles of powdered chlorate of potash into pound.

the said-mass. non-deliquescent character of the mineral small groups ormasses in and throughout the porous cartridge case or shell in which thesolid ingredient is usually placed preparatory to saturation with thefiu' d hydrocarbon, and thesaid mineral grainsthus dispersed throughoutthe powdered chlorate 0t potash in said cartridge-case form by theirirregular angular and hard surfaces interstices or quasi-channelsthroughout the entire chlorate of potash.

The incorporation of the fluid ingredient with the solid ingredientinthe porous cartridge-case by the absorption of the former with themass of the latter and the desired uniform distribution of said fluidthroughout the mass of the solid ingredient are greatly facilitated andpromoted both in the period of time required therefor andthe-completeness of the result attained Whenthe described mineral grainsare present in the solid ingredient over what occurs when the solidingrcdient, the fluid ingredient, is whoIly composed of afinely-powdered material, such-as pulverized chlorate of potash. Thefluid hydrocarbon is quickly brought into intimate mixture with theentire quantity of chlorate of potash throughout the cartridge, andhence the most favorable conditions are tridge upon ignition ofits-contained com- The waterproofing .ot the cartridge by the fluidhydrocarbon isaleo made more certain and eifective by this uniformdistribution of the hydrocarbon throughout Owing to thenon-pbrous andgrains :intheeomposition, the foregoing-described c'ouditibns arepreserved in the cartridge after its saturation with the fluidhydrocarbo'n. i

' Upon the ignition of the explosive'cartridge, which maybe effected. bya detonator in the usual manner, the quick traverse of the heat therebygenerated throughout the entire mass of the cartridge is facilitated bythe interstices or ehannelsin the body of the combined powdered chlorateof potashand hydrocarbon formed, as hereinbefore set forth, by thedeexplosion.

the mass of which is to ab sorb established for the complete andefiectiveaexplosion of the carscribed mineral grains, so. that quicknessof explosion of the entire mass of the compound in the cartridge isattained; and it is believed thatthe said coarse hard mineral grains inand of themselves assist in promoting the quickness and certainty of theexplosion of the said united ingredients by the heat generated by theexceedingly-rapid friction of theatomic particles .into which saidcoarse grains are instantly reduced bythe explosion against each otherand against the particles of the powdered chlorate of potash or someportion thereof at the initial moment of tho \Vhen manganese peroxide isemployed to form the said mineral grains, the disintegration of saidgrains into atomic particles by the explosion will not only promote theinstantaneousness of the explosion of the entire mass by the attritionof said particles as above set forth, but will also co-operate as anactive agent in the generation of gas by the yielding up of oxygen from'the minute particles under the action of the developed heat;

The herein-described compound may be exploded under conditions ofimperfect confinement-as, for example, in soft, loose, or rottenrock-and will be effective under all circumstances in general blastingoperations where the use of a high explosive is required.

What I-claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. An explosive compound composed of an oxidant, as chlorate of potash,in a powderedstate, and a hard dense non-porous mineral substance in theform of coarse grains, said mineral grains being distributed in aboutthe proportions named throughout the mass of thepowdered oxidant, and afluid hydrocarbon, as nitro-benzol, incorporatedin about the proportionsnamed in the mixture of said powdered oxidant and said mineral grains,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. An explosive compound composed of an oxidant, as chlorate of potash,in a powdered state, and manganese peroxide in the form of coarse grainsin about the proportions named, said grains being distributed throughoutthe mass of the powdered oxidant, and a fluid hydrocarbon, asnitro-benzol, in about the proportions namcd, incorporated in themixture of said powdered oxidant and said grains, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

ADDISON CRITTENDEN R AND.

W itn esses:

GEO. H. SAMPSON, JAMES F. LEWIS.

IIO

